How would one celebrate a new baby secularly?

[Drama Llama]

We are a big family, mostly Catholic.  We have two new babies in the works.  One will have a Catholic baptism and a big party (probably on Zoom) with pictures and gifts and stories that will get told over and over.  The other child’s parents are atheist or agnostic.  

I’d like to offer to host some kind of celebration for that child as well.  I feel like he deserves pictures of his family gathered (Screenshot of Zoom?  Photoshop?) and gifts and memories, especially since the two will be growing up close together and once covid is over seeing each other regularly.  

Has anyone done an event like this.  During or before covid? 

Ideas?

Edited February 10, 2021 by BaseballandHockey
Punctuation

[Lecka]

First birthday.  
 

 

[hippymamato3]

Celebrate the baby party? 

[Lecka]

Sometimes people write letters to go into the baby book.  
 

Sometimes people make a craft.

 

[Lecka]

Honestly I think talk to the parents and see what they would like.  They might want something, but they might not.

 

[Lecka]

If you want to host a family gathering/party, I think just offer to host and say you would like to do it, and see what they say.  

[Drama Llama]

Yeah I am not throwing them a party against their wishes!  I just am curious what things people would suggest.

 

[wendyroo]

Is this going to be in addition to a baby shower?

[alisoncooks]

Most babies in my family get a shower (before born) and then a big 1st bday.

If there needs to be an in-between gathering to balance the baptism, maybe a simple "meet the baby" party would do. 

[Sneezyone]

Host a ‘Sip n’See’. Everyone grabs their beverage of choice, tea time snacks, and gets a glimpse of the newbie. You can do everything you would with any other welcome to the family gathering, just skip the blessings and pledges to raise them in the faith. People can offer the new parents advice in a digital scrapbook or something. Easy.

Edited February 10, 2021 by Sneezyone

[Drama Llama]

8 minutes ago, wendyroo said:

Is this going to be in addition to a baby shower?

No because it’s an adoption and happened suddenly. 

Sip ‘n See sounds good.  

[Melissa in Australia]

If it is an adoption I could see a welcome to the  family celebration 

[Tanaqui]

Same as everybody else, with a party - usually after the baby is big enough to be cute and the parents can be assumed to be getting (mostly) enough sleep.

If the parents don't want to do a party, then mailed-in cards work too.

Even though this child has been adopted, a shower may still be appropriate if the parents can reasonably be expected to be lacking in some baby things. Adopted babies need diapers too!

[Drama Llama]

Just now, Tanaqui said:

Same as everybody else, with a party - usually after the baby is big enough to be cute and the parents can be assumed to be getting (mostly) enough sleep.

If the parents don't want to do a party, then mailed-in cards work too.

Even though this child has been adopted, a shower may still be appropriate if the parents can reasonably be expected to be lacking in some baby things. Adopted babies need diapers too!

We will make sure they are well stocked, but my impression is that a shower would be overwhelming at this point, so we are just spending what we’d spend on a shower on gifts.

 

[Arcadia]

Chinese traditionally have a big one month old party for relatives to meet the baby. That’s regardless of religion.  Anything for an occasion to feast 😂 and gather around to catch up on “gossip”. 

I think a welcome party for an adopted baby would be nice. Even though babies would probably not remember, they might look back at those photos when they are much older. Food hampers would probably still be appreciated because the first few months with a baby can be exhausting (my much younger brother who shared my bedroom wasn’t a good sleeper as a baby).

 

[Lecka]

I have thought about this and for me I think — what I see is just showing the baby off at any kind of party/event/gathering and then a big first birthday.  
 

That is what is normal/expected to me.  
 

Any holiday celebration or gathering that is the first where the baby will really be expected to be awake and available to be seen and maybe held — is just assumed to be something where everyone wants to see the baby and meet the baby.

But it isn’t explicitly for the baby.

I think with Covid if those things might not be happening — it’s totally worth planning something to celebrate.  
 

Edit:  the first thing to happen just turns into Baby’s First Party 😉

Edited February 10, 2021 by Lecka

[vonfirmath]

2 hours ago, BaseballandHockey said:

We are a big family, mostly Catholic.  We have two new babies in the works.  One will have a Catholic baptism and a big party (probably on Zoom) with pictures and gifts and stories that will get told over and over.  The other child’s parents are atheist or agnostic.  

I’d like to offer to host some kind of celebration for that child as well.  I feel like he deserves pictures of his family gathered (Screenshot of Zoom?  Photoshop?) and gifts and memories, especially since the two will be growing up close together and once covid is over seeing each other regularly.  

Has anyone done an event like this.  During or before covid? 

Ideas?

I don't think baby showers are inherently religious. Have a baby shower, play games, etc.

[Drama Llama]

20 minutes ago, vonfirmath said:

I don't think baby showers are inherently religious. Have a baby shower, play games, etc.

I guess I think of a baby shower as a thing before the baby comes?  Also, people have have baptisms have them in addition to baby showers, not instead of?

I guess we could do some sort of very late baby shower though.

[vonfirmath]

7 minutes ago, BaseballandHockey said:

I guess I think of a baby shower as a thing before the baby comes?  Also, people have have baptisms have them in addition to baby showers, not instead of?

I guess we could do some sort of very late baby shower though.

Baby showers can be done before or after the baby is born.

 

[Anne]

Adopted babies & children should have showers, too!  If there hasn’t been a shower for the child yet, I’d start there.  It doesn’t matter if the shower is “late”, presumably family and friends still want to celebrate the arrival and bestow gifts.  

Anne

 

Edited February 10, 2021 by Anne

[Hannah]

I think a 'Welcome to the Family' zoom party with the pictures and gifts and secular stories sounds lovely!    It is an opportunity to celebrate the new family member, and also the changing relationships in the family and community.

In my family we have both religious and non-religious godparents for the children (although the translation doesn't actually contain the word 'god' - it is actually the same as 'foster') .  The request is still to be a special adult in the child's life and provide support and moral guidance and to make the promise to take care of the child if the parents can't - so a very serious commitment.  If the children aren't baptized in the church, then there is a small get-together to formalize the request and agreement to it.

As far as a ceremony goes, you could substitute Christian texts with a beautiful poem.  You could also have each person say a few words to the baby (good wishes, positive thoughts, etc).

 

 

 

[kristin0713]

It is very common to do a shower for an adopted baby after they come home. It’s usually recommended to do it that way rather than before since things can change.

[Carrie12345]

We didn’t have any sort of special baby party. It has not seemed to affect my kids in any way. My oldest’s paternal side is Jewish, and he hasn’t had any of those religious celebrations either and doesn’t care, though we occasionally joke about the lack of bar mitzvah money when he attends cousins’ celebrations.

If the parents would like to have a party, that’s great, but I’d be careful about trying to make it an equivalent. I might have been a tad jealous of my friends’ special occasions growing up (in a low key church compared to their Catholic celebrations) but not to the extent that I actually felt shorted. We had different traditions and beliefs and that was fine and good. There was nothing to “make up” for.

FWIW, my first three kids head big first birthday parties, but the last two did not since everyone lived far apart by then. They’re 13 and 10 and don’t even realize it.

[Pawz4me]

We never did any big parties for either of our boys. We had first birthday parties for each of them, but only for close family. Of course we have pictures, but also (of course) neither of them remembers anything about their parties. We never did a single birthday party while they were growing up. Just not our thing. I'm pretty sure they aren't scarred at all by the "lack of." Most of their cousins had at least a few big birthday bashes, but they're certainly not events the family ever reminisces about.

[J-rap]

We never did new baby celebration events, and even first birthdays were very small.  (Our children were baptized as babies, but we just had small receptions afterwards -- not like what you're describing.)  But every family does it differently, and I kind of like the idea of a new baby celebration!   I'd say if it's a tradition in your family, do it (if the new parents are interested, of course) the same as you would if it were on the baptism day, only without the baptism.  You can still have a Zoom party and share stories, or if it's nice outside, go out and have a picnic celebration.

We did have some bigger child-centered events when our kids were older, like celebrating a birthday with extended family at picnics at a lake, etc.  Those were fun.

 

[SKL]

My kids came into my custody when they were 9mos and 12mos, and I didn't have them baptized until they were 3/4.  I had a sort of welcome to the family party combined with my youngest's 1st birthday.

So I was gonna suggest throwing a big 1st birthday party just for the child who didn't get a christening.  (I see others thought the same.)  Especially given Covid stuff, it would be better to wait a year for a big party anyway.

[SKL]

Also, can the new adoptee come to the christening party?  That would be a great time for everyone to meet him/her, assuming most of the same close family members are involved.

[SKL]

I also emailed photos periodically to people I thought would care to see them.  (That was before I was on facebook.)

[Sherry in OH]

The closest secular analogy to a Christening I've experienced is a Naming Day Ceremony/celebration.  

Since a party would be difficult right now, what about organizing a card shower or sending food/gift to the family now and hosting a party or outdoor gathering this summer?   

[Arctic Bunny]

We had a baby shower for a coworker and his wife when their adopted son came home. We had a BBQ, and gifts, mom could even have a drink, lol. It was possibly even more special, because we’d all been through the ups and downs “with” them, and we all wanted to celebrate.

[Spryte]

Our friends threw a big surprise shower for our first. We had no idea it was coming.  You can do that after baby is home, in adoption.
 

We had something like a sip n see, but more like an open house.  We had to go to court with one birthmother present on day 14, and she wanted to make it a party.  So we had everyone stop by throughout the day on that day.  Some people brought gifts, some came to say hello and welcome.  Some people do ceremonies to welcome babies ... secular ceremonies ... kind of hippie crunchy for us to create a ceremony, so we did not.  Though we did have one, of our making, with words and poems and gifts, at the hospital privately.

 

 

[Drama Llama]

Thanks everyone!

I hadn't really thought about a shower, just because I know I found the transition to parenting, or the arrival of subsequent children, both birth and adoptive, really overwhelming.  The last thing I would have wanted in those first weeks, with any of my kids, was a party.  Of course, the kid I adopted was 8, and even more overwhelmed by the adoption than I was.  Their two week old seems to be happily sleeping and snuggling through the whole experience.  I'll ask them. 

So, since I didn't think they'd want a shower soon, we just went ahead and bought stuff.  I can only speak my part of the family, not friends, but they're out of town for a couple weeks for the adoption, and during that time, our branch of the family has painted their nursery, assembled the furniture, sewed and curtains, and filled their freezer, plus we went to the store and picked up a carload of diapers, wipes, etc . . . We've also been taking any packages inside, so we know there's a stack of gifts ready.  They will definitely the gifts they'd have gotten at a shower.  

I also think that maybe we're weird in that baptism is more of a big deal to my family.  This is on DH's side, and DH's side likes to celebrate everything.  There are pictures of each of my kids' baptism hanging on my wall.  Each of my kids' has a photo book of their baptism. that we read at bedtime like any other story.  It was a way we kept them connected to family members far away, and one of the first ways I can remember them understanding time, because they'd ask questions like "why wasn't my little brother there?" or "who is that?" about a relative that passed.  

 

[Sneezyone]

12 minutes ago, BaseballandHockey said:

Thanks everyone!

I hadn't really thought about a shower, just because I know I found the transition to parenting, or the arrival of subsequent children, both birth and adoptive, really overwhelming.  The last thing I would have wanted in those first weeks, with any of my kids, was a party.  Of course, the kid I adopted was 8, and even more overwhelmed by the adoption than I was.  Their two week old seems to be happily sleeping and snuggling through the whole experience.  I'll ask them. 

So, since I didn't think they'd want a shower soon, we just went ahead and bought stuff.  I can only speak my part of the family, not friends, but they're out of town for a couple weeks for the adoption, and during that time, our branch of the family has painted their nursery, assembled the furniture, sewed and curtains, and filled their freezer, plus we went to the store and picked up a carload of diapers, wipes, etc . . . We've also been taking any packages inside, so we know there's a stack of gifts ready.  They will definitely the gifts they'd have gotten at a shower.  

I also think that maybe we're weird in that baptism is more of a big deal to my family.  This is on DH's side, and DH's side likes to celebrate everything.  There are pictures of each of my kids' baptism hanging on my wall.  Each of my kids' has a photo book of their baptism. that we read at bedtime like any other story.  It was a way we kept them connected to family members far away, and one of the first ways I can remember them understanding time, because they'd ask questions like "why wasn't my little brother there?" or "who is that?" about a relative that passed.  

 

Showers for adopted infants (Sip n’ sees for olders) are wonderful surprises. You may be surprised to learn than they’re often skipped and it can add to the feeling of ‘difference’ that families experience. I was a 24 yo employee when my boss announced he was taking leave to care for a newly adopted child. I said, “Congratulations!!” And he looked at me in shock and said, “Thank you.” He said it was the first time he hadn’t been asked “Why?” He already had two bio children with his wife. We also threw them a party. 🥰 I’m sure the family will appreciate all that you’ve done. 

Edited February 10, 2021 by Sneezyone

[Spryte]

12 minutes ago, Sneezyone said:

Showers for adopted infants (Sip n’ sees for olders) are wonderful surprises. You may be surprised to learn than they’re often skipped and it can add to the feeling of ‘difference’ that families experience. I was a 24 yo employee when my boss announced he was taking leave to care for a newly adopted child. I said, “Congratulations!!” And he looked at me in shock and said, “Thank you.” He said it was the first time he hadn’t been asked “Why?” He already had two bio children with his wife. We also threw them a party. 🥰 I’m sure the family will appreciate all that you’ve done. 

Yes, ditto this!  Everything that adds to the normalcy is appreciated.  Seriously.

OP, you probably know that, though!

 

[HS Mom in NC]

We had an adoption celebration/baby dedication/shower for ours about 6 weeks after she arrived.  She was 8 months old. If you're not religious you can stick with the celebration and drop the dedication part. We made a 10 minutes video of the highlights of our family's growth through adoption for people to watch. There were subtitles, meaningful songs, and video clips for guests to watch.  It was a lot of work; those things take time.

You can have each individual write/video something to the baby and put it in a scrapbook/video:

1. How excited they felt when the baby joined the family.
2. A welcome and well wishes for the baby.
3. Funny sweet baby/family joke.
4. A funny and sweet welcome to this crazy family with a funny sweet story about how crazy they are and that the baby is one of them now.
5. A sweet or funny poem/song about kids/babies/family.


Another option is symbolic token trinket gifts with written note/tag of advice/well wishes for the baby:

1. A compass hoping they'll never lose their way, and if they do, they'll find it again.
2. A pressed rose hoping they'll always take time to stop and smell the roses.
3. A silver coin hoping they'll have a financially stable future and share some of it with those in need.
4. An owl image on something hoping they'll always grow in wisdom.
5. A magnifying glass hoping they won't miss the little things in life that mean so much.
6. Small watch/timer/clock/hourglass hoping they'll always remember their time on this earth is precious.
7. Small Swiss Army Knife hoping they'll be willing to cut toxic/destructive things out of their life when necessary or to remember that most things in life are fixable if you use the right tool.
8. A small mirror hoping they'll take time now and then to reflect on who they are so they can continue to grow their whole life long.
9. A swan or other animal that mates for life hoping they'll know loyal, life long romantic love.
10. A mini book of meaningful title hoping they'll be life long learners.

The host can provide a lovely container for the items with the baby's name, birth date, and adoption date on or in it,  maybe with the words Wishing You All the Best on it. Brainstorming a list of items and well wishes for family and friends who would like to participate but aren't creative might be useful for those asking for suggestions. It's something that could be opened and discussed to different depths over the years.

[Katy]

My sister threw an adoption party when we adopted our first.  It was just like a baby shower except it was co-ed and the baby was there to enjoy it too.  Oh, and she skipped the embarrassing games (but we'd agreed to that when we were kids).

[Drama Llama]

3 hours ago, Spryte said:

Yes, ditto this!  Everything that adds to the normalcy is appreciated.  Seriously.

OP, you probably know that, though!

 

I guess our adoption was so not normal, that I didn't feel that way?  I mean, I hugely appreciated DH's family who said to me "Tell me about our new grandson (nephew/greatgrandson/cousin) we want to get to know him" or "What do you need?", and not the people in my family who said "Why would you do that?" or "Can't he just stay where he is?"  But I also really needed space, and a chance to concentrate on us, and to figure out how things were going to work.  But their situation, with a newborn, and no trauma, and no siblings, is of course hugely different. 

If things were happening in a more familiar pattern, that is if this were a couple who was giving birth, and shared our faith, and there wasn't a pandemic, I'd expect that their friends would throw a shower, and those of us in their extended family who are local might or might not be invited, but that the baptism would be the thing that would be family focused, and where I'd get more involved, because people would fly in to meet the baby, and some of them might stay at my house, and my SIL or FIL would probably offer their house and I'd end up helping to cook and plan.  So, I guess that's why in my mind the baptism is what I'm thinking of?  

I'll talk to them when they get home and see what they wanted.  I'm sure they just want to get home first.  

[Drama Llama]

1 hour ago, Homeschool Mom in AZ said:

We had an adoption celebration/baby dedication/shower for ours about 6 weeks after she arrived.  She was 8 months old. If you're not religious you can stick with the celebration and drop the dedication part. We made a 10 minutes video of the highlights of our family's growth through adoption for people to watch. There were subtitles, meaningful songs, and video clips for guests to watch.  It was a lot of work; those things take time.

You can have each individual write/video something to the baby and put it in a scrapbook/video:

1. How excited they felt when the baby joined the family.
2. A welcome and well wishes for the baby.
3. Funny sweet baby/family joke.
4. A funny and sweet welcome to this crazy family with a funny sweet story about how crazy they are and that the baby is one of them now.
5. A sweet or funny poem/song about kids/babies/family.


Another option is symbolic token trinket gifts with written note/tag of advice/well wishes for the baby:

1. A compass hoping they'll never lose their way, and if they do, they'll find it again.
2. A pressed rose hoping they'll always take time to stop and smell the roses.
3. A silver coin hoping they'll have a financially stable future and share some of it with those in need.
4. An owl image on something hoping they'll always grow in wisdom.
5. A magnifying glass hoping they won't miss the little things in life that mean so much.
6. Small watch/timer/clock/hourglass hoping they'll always remember their time on this earth is precious.
7. Small Swiss Army Knife hoping they'll be willing to cut toxic/destructive things out of their life when necessary or to remember that most things in life are fixable if you use the right tool.
8. A small mirror hoping they'll take time now and then to reflect on who they are so they can continue to grow their whole life long.
9. A swan or other animal that mates for life hoping they'll know loyal, life long romantic love.
10. A mini book of meaningful title hoping they'll be life long learners.

The host can provide a lovely container for the items with the baby's name, birth date, and adoption date on or in it,  maybe with the words Wishing You All the Best on it. Brainstorming a list of items and well wishes for family and friends who would like to participate but aren't creative might be useful for those asking for suggestions. It's something that could be opened and discussed to different depths over the years.

These are great ideas. 

[GoodGrief3]

When we lived on the Navajo reservation, “first laugh” parties were a tradition. The person who made the baby laugh the first time was supposed to throw the party. 🙂 

[Terabith]

30 minutes ago, GoodGrief3 said:

When we lived on the Navajo reservation, “first laugh” parties were a tradition. The person who made the baby laugh the first time was supposed to throw the party. 🙂 

Oh, I LOVE that!

[gardenmom5]

A big party - very similar to the other, just without the religious ritual.  It's  a "we're glad you've been born" party.

[katilac]

On 2/10/2021 at 7:07 PM, gardenmom5 said:

A big party - very similar to the other, just without the religious ritual.  It's  a "we're glad you've been born" party.

Right - same party the other kid is having, without a baptism first. 

[Drama Llama]

On 2/12/2021 at 12:23 AM, katilac said:

Right - same party the other kid is having, without a baptism first. 

Well, we haven't figured out what a Zoom baptism party looks like yet either, other than maybe livestream a mass that's just family, and dropping some kind of special dessert off at local friends and families so we can all eat fancy cupcakes at the same time.  If you take the baptism out of that, it becomes -- cupcakes. 

If the Catholic baby were older, I'd probably be posting "How would one celebrate a baptism via Zoom?"  

[MEmama]

9 minutes ago, BaseballandHockey said:

Well, we haven't figured out what a Zoom baptism party looks like yet either, other than maybe livestream a mass that's just family, and dropping some kind of special dessert off at local friends and families so we can all eat fancy cupcakes at the same time.  If you take the baptism out of that, it becomes -- cupcakes. 

If the Catholic baby were older, I'd probably be posting "How would one celebrate a baptism via Zoom?"  

Why is that a problem? What am I missing?

[Drama Llama]

14 minutes ago, MEmama said:

Why is that a problem? What am I missing?

Nothing's wrong with it.  But we did something different for the other kids, so we want to do something different for this kid.  Plus, we are a family that likes to have parties and covid sucks, and not being together sucks, and after a really really crappy year, we finally we have this spectacularly wonderful thing to celebrate and we want to do more than cupcakes.   But since we've never celebrated a new baby secularly during covid we don't know how, so I thought I'd come and see if other people have ideas. 

DH's side of the family likes to gather and to celebrate.  The last time we had a new baby, the entire family flew across country for the baptism party.   There are pictures of that event hanging on the walls of multiple houses.  We made a photo book of that event that was part of the bedtime story rotation for years.  Maybe that's weird, but it's how we do things.  So, we'd like to give this kid something more than cupcakes.  Something that keeps people on Zoom for more than a couple minutes.  Something that leads to things to hang on the wall, and memories.  

[katilac]

 

board craziness, ignore

 

Edited February 13, 2021 by katilac

[katilac]

1 hour ago, BaseballandHockey said:

Nothing's wrong with it.  But we did something different for the other kids, so we want to do something different for this kid.  Plus, we are a family that likes to have parties and covid sucks, and not being together sucks, and after a really really crappy year, we finally we have this spectacularly wonderful thing to celebrate and we want to do more than cupcakes.   But since we've never celebrated a new baby secularly during covid we don't know how, so I thought I'd come and see if other people have ideas. 

DH's side of the family likes to gather and to celebrate.  The last time we had a new baby, the entire family flew across country for the baptism party.   There are pictures of that event hanging on the walls of multiple houses.  We made a photo book of that event that was part of the bedtime story rotation for years.  Maybe that's weird, but it's how we do things.  So, we'd like to give this kid something more than cupcakes.  Something that keeps people on Zoom for more than a couple minutes.  Something that leads to things to hang on the wall, and memories.  

Not weird, plenty of families have big celebrations for new babies, but obviously no one can do that right now! I think most of us are saying that you just do the same thing that you decide to do for the Catholic baby, minus the baptism (which doesn't involve interaction anyway, people would just be watching). 

So if you decide that "One will have a Catholic baptism and a big party (probably on Zoom) with pictures and gifts and stories that will get told over and over" then the other has a big party (probably on Zoom) with pictures and gifts and stories that will get told over and over. Whatever you do, the only difference is that people are watching a video baptism beforehand in the first case but not in the second case. 

[Drama Llama]

2 hours ago, katilac said:

Not weird, plenty of families have big celebrations for new babies, but obviously no one can do that right now! I think most of us are saying that you just do the same thing that you decide to do for the Catholic baby, minus the baptism (which doesn't involve interaction anyway, people would just be watching). 

So if you decide that "One will have a Catholic baptism and a big party (probably on Zoom) with pictures and gifts and stories that will get told over and over" then the other has a big party (probably on Zoom) with pictures and gifts and stories that will get told over and over. Whatever you do, the only difference is that people are watching a video baptism beforehand in the first case but not in the second case. 

That all makes sense, except since this is the older of the two, we haven't actually figured out what a Catholic baptism and big party over Zoom would look like either.  

I get the reasoning of "well just do what you're doing for the other one" except I don't have a clue for what we're doing for the other one.  None of our the kids were born or adopted during pandemics.  

If the Catholic kid arrived first my question would be "we'd like to throw a big Zoom celebration after my niece/nephew's baptism . . . "  So, if I asked that question, would people have suggestions?

I also really need low stakes things to occupy my brain, because otherwise it spirals into worrying about non-low stakes things.  This is half about welcoming a baby, and half about keeping my own sanity.  

Edited February 13, 2021 by BaseballandHockey
conventions

[katilac]

2 hours ago, BaseballandHockey said:

 If the Catholic kid arrived first my question would be "we'd like to throw a big Zoom celebration after my niece/nephew's baptism . . . "  So, if I asked that question, would people have suggestions? 

Ah, okay, it sounded like you knew what you wanted for the one kid but not the other.

I think that Zoom calls with more than 2 or 3 people are tough, and large ones are excruciating. I don't know that there's a great way to do that. Could everyone just take photos of themselves celebrating new kid in whatever way, and then you could make a cute online album for the family to enjoy? Pics of cousins and aunts/uncle with welcome captions, kids would probably like making signs or drawing pictures, short welcome videos, maybe some pics of the extra-cute baby things that are being sent to them. The still photos could be turned into a photo book after. 

I just don't think there's a great virtual substitute for a big party. 

 

[Lecka]

For things you can control — you can control a narrative of how happy your family was to add a new member during these COVID times.  Whether you have an even or not — that is in your control.

You already have a story — it is obvious 😉

Whether that is a story you tell or a letter you write — you have got it.  
 

You already have a story to write, and a story to tell, regardless of holding an event.  
 

I think you already have a ton for “welcome to the family,” and it sounds lovely.